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Thursday, 03 December 2009

Call to put matrons back on wards

Matrons should be re-introduced into Northern Ireland's hospitals to help improve hygiene standards, according to the Stormont Health Committee.

Members of Stormont's Health Committee have called for matrons to be re-introduced into Northern Ireland's hospitals to help improve hygiene standards.

The call follows a report by observers from the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority, which criticised hygiene standards at four local acute health hospitals.

The committee has urged Health minister Michael McGimpsey to grant new powers to ward managers.

"We're proposing that someone of the status of a matron is given complete control and responsibility for hygiene in a particular ward and if something goes wrong that person is responsible," Chairman of the Health Committee Jim Wells told UTV.

Mr Wells said the proposed move was about cutting red tape in hospitals.

"Standards have declined dramatically in certain hospitals and that's because no-one has ultimate responsibility of the ward and that has to change."

"No committees, no working parties, no plans - just get it done," he said.

Mr Wells said hospitals needed "someone who would go in the morning with the staff and go through the wards with a fine toothcomb and say 'Look, that needs cleaned, that bed needs attended to, that bathroom's in a poor state - I want it done and I want it done now".

The call has been supported by the Royal College of Nurses, although it insisted ward managers must be given the necessary resources if they are to carry out the job effectively.

"What we would say is that she can only do the job if she gets the support to do it and she has the authority to do it", Rita Devlin from the Royal College of Nursing told UTV.

"As a ward manager if you need more staff then you should have the authority and ability to pick up the phone and get the staff that you need", she said.

On Thursday Michael McGimpsey announced the introduction of a back to basics pilot scheme in four hospitals.

Costing £60,000, the scheme is aimed at providing more effective cleaning.

The move has received the support of health union, Unison.

"There is added value, real value in every way from having a pilot where you put an extra cleaner on specific wards doing the things that have been dropped off the specification like doing additional cleaning on door handles, beds, bell pushes etc", Lily Kerr from Unison said.

"They all give added value. They cut down on our infection rates and they end up value for money."

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7 Comments

At 11:31 on 04 December 2009, anonymous wrote:

I was in Craigavon Hospital also, brought in as an emergency by ambulance, placed on a trolley which had dried blood stains on the side bars, I then watched a doctor picking his nose and sneezing at the nurse station without covering his mouth. the same doctor, who did not wash his hands went on to attempt to examine an open wound I had.

At 21:04 on 03 December 2009, annonymous wrote:

I have worked for 20 years in the health service and I have to say so much money is wasted paying people to sit having coffee breaks. In the department i work in every time you are looking for a cleaner you find them drinking coffee/tea. If departments were able to take the money back from domestic services budget every time they find work is not up to standard there might be more work done. Within the health service at the moment no one seems to care about the amount of money that is being spent on salaries (considering the huge pay increases introduced through Agenda for Change) I think managers in hospitals need to be cut back (and not given these golden handshakes on their exit) if they are not fit to do the job and manage the staff that are underperforming then they should not be there

At 20:55 on 03 December 2009, Thomas McCormick wrote:

When will nurses stop wearing their uniform in the streets? Surely this leaves them liable to pick up infection, I have seen a person in a hospital uniform carrying a dog in the vicinity of Dundonald hospital.

At 19:47 on 03 December 2009, Clive G Shaw wrote:

I have been a qualified nurse for over forty years and during in that time have seen a steady decline in the health service. I agree that the introduction of matrons would impprove the service but that is only the tip of the iceburg. In order to improve the system there must be a raqdical overhaul of the structure which should include, A drastic reduction in the number of administators within the health service, freeing more money to go to front line working and equipment. A rerview of the functikons of NICE and perhaps the removal of this body altogether,as since its coception the emphasis appears to have been on paperwork rather than practicle results, in short NICE has been an unmitigated disaster. And most importantly bring the domestic services back within the Hospitals/Health Service rather than haqving run by commercial interest;more concerned with their profit than the standard of service they provide.

At 18:48 on 03 December 2009, Anonymous wrote:

In the 1970 & 80s I was responsible for setting up bonus schemes for domestic services in the BCH and RVH. Prior to the bonus schemes there was a NHS report on "relieving nurses of non-nursing duties" to allow them to get on with their main job of nursing! My experiences were that Matrons and nursing sisters seldom understood methods and frequency of cleaning and this led to the employment of professional domestic managers who did understand the tasks. Works Study officers along with domestic managers produced cleaning manuals, commissioned bacterial and air samples of various cleaning methods before discussing and agreeing all methods and frequencies of cleaning with ward sisters, before implementation of bonus schemes. Matrons frequently did not know what tasks were carried out by ancillary staff. In the BCH I led meetings between Matrons, ancillary mangers such as laundry, catering, CSSD, portering, medical records etc to determine who exactly was responsible for carrying out various tasks in the hospital, especially in grey areas were nobody took lead responsibility i.e. who cleans up spills? With nursing going on to degree courses (they seldom do any "menial patient orientated tasks anymore i.e. feeding patients, cleaning beds on patient discharge), the elimination of ward orderlies/nursing auxiliaries and contract cleaning have all compounded the decline cleaning standards. The answer toward cleanliness is to remove all cleaning contracts and go back to domestic service managers who could provide a professional service and provide absence cover whenever needed. Matrons do not have the necessary training to manage the full range of ancillary services such as laundry, CSSD, medical records, portering, catering, cleaning, laboratory/cross infection testing, pest control, maintenance services in wards, along with the financial background to run all the various budgets. What are the instances of infections etc in hospitals with in-house and contract cleaning - is there an appreciateable difference?

At 18:18 on 03 December 2009, a j wrote:

Was in craigavon hospital 2 years ago as an inpatient and witnessed a cleaner cleaning the toilet from the bottom up. She started round the bottom of toilet then around the toilet rim then round handle and top of toilet, she then washed sink and taps with same cloth (did not see if cloth was rinsed out before sink was cleaned) I was totally shocked, I should have reported it. No wonder there is infections, how do you watch cleaners clean??

At 18:11 on 03 December 2009, Jean Black wrote:

The only way to clean up our hospitals is to give the power back to ward managers.Allow them to get the hours/manpower necessary to do the job.I have worked for 40 years in the health service and have been through many changes,some that are dreadful,but giving ward managers the autonomy of their area would go a long way to solving the problem.Matrons are a good idea but one hospital one matron it worked 40 years ago and no that doesnt make it old fashioned just workable.You only need one boss not a string of them.